Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Baby Reindeer limited series E1-3

Posted on by

I heard some discussion about this limited series on Netflix. Several of the online critics that I respect and like had positive things to say about this, so I decided since I have a sick day today from school, I may as well give it a try.

The first three episodes were just tremendous.

According to IMDB, “Based on a compelling true story, the hit 2019 Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage-play Baby Reindeer follows the writer and performer Richard Gadd’s warped relationship with his female stalker and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deep, dark buried trauma.”

Richard Gadd played Donny, a bartender who wants to become a stand up comedian. One night, a sad figure of a woman came into the pub and sat down on the stool. Donny took pity on the woman and offered her a drink. Little did he know where this would take him.

Jessica Gunning is astounding as the woman, Martha Scott, who begins to stalk Donny, ingratiating herself into his life in an obsessive manner. The brilliance of the performance is the fact that you can see the reason why Donny felt the empathy for her. There are flashes with Martha that is not just her mental illness, but her desperation to be something more to someone. Jessica Gunning truly gives a layered performance through the first three episodes.

The first three episodes spend some time hinting that there is more behind Donny than what we see and perhaps some of his choices and behaviors will make sense after we find out what that is.

The feral response Martha had when she found Donny with Teri (Nava Mau) was brutal. Donny’s angry response chased her away, but I am not sure what the show will do next, and i love that.

Powerful limited series so far, based on a true story of Richard Gadd’s actual stalker.

The X-Files S4 E13

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Never Again”

Talking tattoos?

Not sure I liked that part of this episode. It was a strange thing.

However, everything that happened made perfect sense considering what happened last episode, in Leonard betts.

Scully was told by Betts that she had what he needed, which was cancer. Everything that she did in this episode, several things that did not seem like something Scully would do, probably came from that realization.

I did wish that Mulder would have been more empathic in the situation. Shouldn’t he be able to tell something was bothering his long time partner? Shouldn’t he understand that the minor things like a desk are not setting Scully off? Mulder was not written very well in this episode.

He did get to go on a pilgrimage to Graceland, though.

Jodie Foster voiced the evil tattoo. That was still too silly of a thing for me. I did like seeing the problems faced by Scully, and having her show some flaws.

Chernobyl S1 E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Vichnaya Pamyat”

This series concluded with a powerful episode that saw testimony in a trial of the people facing the blame for what happened on April 26, 1986.

Boris, Legasov and Ulana would all testify about the events of the night and the way that Anatoly Dyatlov ignored protocol in his attempt to complete a required test. However, when Legasov took the microphone, he explained out the process of the way a power plant worked. But it was not only that, but Legasov, putting his own life on the line, talked about how the flaw in the AZ-5 system led to the failure of the shutdown procedure, and thus it being a failure of the Soviet Union for the devastation.

The court scenes were full of tension and made for a dramatic way to wrap up this fantastic five-episode series. The acting in the series was on display in this episode even more than before. Stellan Skarsgård and Jared Harris really stood out among this wonderful ensemble. Neither of them were shown as heroes. Both characters knew that they were not heroes, yet they were doing what they knew was right.

I can see why Legasov made the decision to kill himself after hearing the way he was going to be treated as he slowly got sick from the radiation. It is a powerful piece of entertainment with an amazing result.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E9

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Auteur”

Mercifully, this is over.

Thank goodness.

Since this came back from its break, Delicate has been nearly unwatchable. The finale was as bad of an episode of AHS that I think I have ever seen. It wished to be at a B-movie level. It does not reach that.

Maybe this was meant to be all camp. I did not get that impression from the rest of the episodes of the season, but maybe that is what it was intended to be. If that was the case, they succeeded.

Before the break, Delicate was okay, but I was not in love with the show. It was engaging enough to keep me coming back, but the last four episodes were just continually sliding down the level of quality until it was just a joke.

I thought Emma Roberts was overacting like crazy. Kim Kardashian was nothing more than a villain who had to use shock value instead of actual horror to get a reaction.

This is probably my least favorite season of AHS that I have seen. I am glad it is over.

The X-Files S4 E12

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Leonard Betts”

This was one of my favorite X-Files episode. It was originally shown after Super Bowl XXXI and it brought the weird. A cancer-ridden mutant who needs cancer to feed on. A mutant named Leonard Betts who was decapitated in the beginning of the show, but who was able to regrow limbs, including his head.

Not only that, but Leonard was able to diagnose someone who has cancer. It is because it is what he needs. This kicks off the Scully cancer arc that was difficult to watch when it aired. I did not know what was going to happen to Scully and this was an excellent twist.

Mulder also pulled out some exceptional lines this episode that made me laugh out loud. When Scully asked him why they were investigating Leonard Betts body’s disappearance from the morgue, Mulder responded with “Did I mention Mr. Betts had no head.” That line stuck out in my memory because I loved it so much.

Leonard Betts was a fantastic villain, played by Paul McClane. He did an excellent job in this role. I have seen him in several other episodes of TV, including The Practice, and he is always outstanding.

This was so creepy of a show, with a scene where we see Leonard shed his skin and create what seemed like another Leonard and one of them wound up dead in a fiery car explosion.

I did love how Betts came after Scully and she was able to fight him off inside an ambulance. Scully looked great in this fight and she used her surroundings well. I loved how she did not need anyone to rescue her, even after the reveal that Betts was after her because of her cancer.

Excellent episode and a shocking reveal.

Chernobyl S1 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Happiness of All Mankind”

Chernobyl has been just an amazing show so far. Four tragic episodes that showed the horrible events that happened in the Soviet Union and the Soviet’s attempts to fix the problem without admitting to any problems.

We got a new arc here too as Barry Keoghan appeared as a soldier who joined a couple of others to shoot the animals of the infected area This was very tough as they were killing several pets, dogs, cats and a painful scene with puppies, and then taking the bodies to bury beneath cement. Keoghan’s character had never done something like this and the anguish of the situation was obvious. This was a rough part of the episode, but provided some amazing character moments.

Then Boris went to town on the phone.

I called the line that he would say afterwards, “We need another phone.” Boris was angry with the Kremlin because they were not being helpful. The explosion of frustration made for a brilliant scene.

Then, when the robots could not do what they needed, they recruited people to do it. Oh goodness.

This has been unbelievable and I wonder how accurate the series is to the truth.

Man from Atlantis S1 E16, E17

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Siren”

“Deadly Carnival”

This brings to an end the rewatch (although I do not remember any of these specific episodes, so we could consider it a watch instead) of the late 1970s TV show Man from Atlantis starring Patrick Duffy, who left from this show after its cancelation and moved to Dallas where he had some huge success as the brother of J.R. Ewing, Bobby.

These were the two episodes that did not have Dr. Elizabeth Merrill, as played by Belinda J. Montgomery. In “Siren,” they did make a reference to her being gone because she was doing something with the Senate, giving a nice little touch to continuity. They did not mention her at all in “Deadly Carnival.”

There was a mermaid in the first of these two episode who could sing a song that could cause pain or mesmerize people. Billy Barty guest starred in the second episode as our main villain, a midget who, along with a man who can conduct electricity, were planning a heist and Mark wound up in the middle of it.

Both of these episodes are definitely watchable. Neither of them are great, but neither are bad either. That kind of describes Man from Atlantis’ entire run. It was fine. Nothing great, nothing offensive. I don’t know if I would ever go out of my way to watch any of the episodes again, but I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing some of them if they just happened to be on.

I do like the fact that they had new villains in each of the last several episodes. Not that I disliked Mister Schubert. I did like him and I always liked Victor Buono, but he was just overused, particularly early in the season.

It is a shame that they never went into the secret of Mark Harris’ past more. They barely mentioned it. I would think that someone like Mark would be very driven to discover what was out there in his background, to see if he could trigger any memories of where he had come from. Maybe they had intended on doing this later on, but with the single season being all they got, it was not done.

Patrick Duffy actually wrote a book about the backstory and the history of Mark Harris and Atlantis. I just ordered it on Amazon because Mark Harris is a character that I really loved, despite some of the flaws of the series, this character was unlike many on TV, then or now.

I am pleased to have completed Man from Atlantis on Amazon Prime.

X-Men ’97 S1 E7

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Bright Eyes”

X-Men ’97 is not a kids show. Where as the original X-Men animated series from the 90s was absolutely made for children, this is anything but. While kids could watch and enjoy this show, the themes are considerably more adult than the previous incarnation.

Rogue going rogue showed us that. There is no way that we see Rogue kill Trask in the 90s series. But we saw that here in one of the most dramatic ways possible. Seeing him turn into a hybrid human/sentinel did not change the fact that she let a man fall to his death.

We also saw someone smother Henry Peter Gyrich to death. I am ashamed that I did not recognize Bastion immediately. He is a character that came into prominence during a stretch when I was not reading as many comics as I am now. Still, I should have identified this character sooner.

Having Bastion as the big bad is genius. Having him above Sinister even makes this character an immediate threat. His toying with a captive, yet still alive Magneto was creepy as could be.

I love the inclusion of Nightcrawler this week, but I am surprised that Storm did not make her return yet. She’ll be back soon, I am sure but to see her not at Remy’s funeral was disappointing.

That was another scene that I was not sure we would see. The funeral of Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit was tough. Does this mean that Gambit is truly gone? I know no one is ever truly gone when you are talking about the X-Men, but this felt very final to me. I know the showrunner said that the sacrifices of episode five were definite, that they were there to maintain stakes, but even still. Gambit is a major player in the X-Men universe.

Captain America making a cameo in this episode was interesting, if not unnecessary. Seeing Rogue fling the shield off into the mountains was rude. Emma Frost and her diamond form made an appearance too, saved from the rubble of Madripoor.

They do a remarkable job of packing so much content into a 30-minute episode. It is quite impressive and never feels too short.

The final three episodes, entitled “Tolerance is Extinction,” are a three part saga that the showrunner indicated would be as dramatic as episode five. That can’t get here soon enough. X-Men ’97 has been some amazing television so far.

Shogun S1 E10

Posted on by

Spoilers

“A Dream of a Dream”

That last moment of the penultimate ninth episode was the most shocking, unexpected scene I have seen on a TV show in a long time. The death of Lady Mariko shook the series dramatically, and the repercussions were felt of that death throughout a beautiful finale of Shogun.

In fact, the death of Mariko was the point of Crimson Sky, the main concept behind the plan of Toranaga in his attempt to regain power and bring a lasting peace to Japan.

We see John Blackthorne in a distant future, old and most likely on his deathbed, showing that he would survive the situation in Japan.

I thought the death of Mariko would trigger some serious violence and I was wrong. Her death actually triggered the change of alliances in the potential war. She negotiated for the life of John. Mariko’s ghost was all over this episode.

Her death also brought the guilt out of Yabushige and led to his committing seppuku with Toranaga acting as his second. The scene between these two on a cliff overlooking the sea was strong as Toranaga confessed his entire plan to Yabushige before his death.

There was a beautiful scene with Blackthorne and Fuji scattering her husband and baby’s ashes in the water before she would depart to become a nun.

Of course, the scene where Blackthorne threatened to kill himself was undercut by the fact that we saw old man Blackthorne at the beginning of the episode, but the acting was so good in this scene that you could excuse the structure.

I expect that this is the end of Shogun. It was ten fantastic episodes. If they decided to extend this to a second season, I would watch, but without Mariko, I am not sure it would have the same power. The acting was tremendous and the shocks were plentiful.

Man from Atlantis S1 E15

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Imp”

Pat Morita guest starred as a strange little man named Moby, a being from another world whose touch causes people to regress to a childhood state and laugh without a care in the world. While that sounds like fun, the humans wind up in dangerous situations.

In fact, Moby told some of the crew of the submarine that discovered him to go swimming and they happily climbed into the air lock and drowned. We did not see their eventual fates, but that is absolutely what happened.

The idea behind Moby is clearly someone like Mr. Mxyzptlk from DC Comics or a story similar to “Naked Time” from the original Star Trek series. However, this was a little annoying at times.

The ending where Mark shows Moby the dangers of his actions was a solid ending to this story. Mark continues to be the most noblest character on the show.

It was interesting that Moby’s powers did not work on Mark and that Moby knew that they would not because Moby recognized Mark as from “down there.” This was never explored but it was a intriguing nod to the differences of the character of Mark Harris.

This is the final episode of the series for Belinda Montgomery, who played Elizabeth. To be fair, the character of Elizabeth neve really got her due from this series. I am sure that she will be missed over the final couple of episodes.

Chernobyl S1 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Open Wide, O Earth”

This has been such a compelling story of such a horrific tragedy. The drama is so tense and suspenseful and every moment brings more shocking revelations. So many people wound up sick or dead because of their efforts to stop the exposure from spreading into the land or the water, it truly speaks to the heroic nature of the human spirit, no matter the country.

The group of miners they recruited to dig beneath the core to prevent the contamination of the water supply have become my favorite characters immediately. Their no nonsense approach to the initial order was awesome, as was their patting of the coal minister (messing up his suit and his face with coal dust). Their response to not being allowed to have fans in the tunnels they dug was unexpected and a great bit of humor inside a serious moment.

Seeing some of the first people who had been exposed and the fates that they faced was difficult. The firefighter whose wife told him she was pregnant was heart-breaking. The final scene of the episode where they placed a series of metal coffins in a large grave and covered it with concrete was a brutal blow. It was truly a difficult scene to watch.

Valery Legasov presenting the plan for what had to happen next to Gorbachev was a tense scene. When Valery approached the KGB Director, I had everything clenched. I know he survived because of the opening scene of the show, but it still did not make this easier to watch.

This has been such a powerful show with so much amazing acting. I find this very emotional and I am glad that I have gotten around to seeing it.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E8

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Little Gold Man”

Since Delicate return from hiatus a few weeks ago, I have been very down on this series. Even the first half of the season was not as gripping as some of the past seasons.

The eighth episode of the season was better than recent ones. It still is not in the upper tier of AHS seasons, but at least I am not cringing every scene like I have been the last few weeks.

The whole Oscar plot is strange. She found out she was nominated and won the award all in the same basic time frame and that does not happen.

Anna got that Oscar, but what did she have to sacrifice in order to hear her name called? Sure seemed like she just said she would give up her unborn child to win that award. Hm. Anna was never going to be mother-of-the-year, but that was really crappy of her.

A lot of this episode was exposition and explanations for what was going on. Then, it is never easy to figure out what is in Anna’s head or what’s actually happening to her.

Then, the episode was over before you knew it. Just around 35 minutes run time is surprisingly short for the show.

The X-Files S4 E11

Posted on by

Spoilers

“El Mundo Gira”

The X-Files goes into illegal aliens this episode, blending it with the legend of El Chupacabra and a strange, deadly fungus, that was killing people.

This episode took the idea of El Chupacabra and turned it into something different, something unexplained, and I have to say that I enjoyed the manipulation of the legend.

It was based on the Mexican Soap Operas too as a love requited story was at the center of it. Some of the acting felt like it was over the top like you might find in some of the soap operas/telenovela of the culture.

The ending was a lesson in POV as we saw what happened in the ending from two distinctly differing points of view. This is something that the show has done on several occasions, including in such classic episodes as Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.

This was a fun episode, but I still would wish that Mulder and Scully would be able to capture their prey once in a while.

Chernobyl S1 E1, E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“1:23:45”

“Please Remain Calm”

With the rewatches of Twin Peaks and Moonlighting finishing, the end of the Fallout first season, and the nearing of the completion of Man from Atlantis, I was ready for a new watch, whether it be a rewatch or a new show. I had made a list and one that jumped out at me was a five-episode mini-series that had aired on HBO in 2019 based on the story of the disaster that occurred at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union.

I had heard amazing things about this mini-series and so I wanted to get this into the rotation. I have to say, after watching the first two episodes, I had to really stress myself into not continuing and binging the entire series. It was that good.

About two-thirds of the way through the second episode, I was thinking that everyone that I saw in the first episode was now dead or in the process of dying, which was a dramatic thought.

Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård we meet, mostly, in the second episode, and they bring some of the best acting I have seen in a long time. The realization of what their jobs will cost them is absolutely screaming beneath their performances.

This historical recreation (which does have its share of discrepancies) is extremely stressful and intense. It had me yelling at my screen for characters to get out of there, in reference to the power plant. How the radiation affected these men was an unbelievable example of the power of nuclear energy.

Kicking the series off with a scene of Valery Legasov, played by Jared Harris, hanging himself after recording memoirs of the events of Chernobyl really started things off with a desperation that the series maintained. Legasov had said to Skarsgård’s Boris Shcherbina in episode two that they would both be dead in five years. Perhaps this was his way of taking control of his life. Or maybe, he knew he would be killed for putting his words on tape. Either way, it made for quite an impact at the beginning of this show.

Man from Atlantis S1 E14

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Scavenger Hunt”

Muldoon makes a return to the Man from Atlantis series and they even referenced the last time he was on. Continuity! This is the first time in the series that there has been an allusion back to an earlier episode. For example, Mister Schubert has made multiple appearances and none of them make connections to previous encounters, outside of a knowledge of Mark Harris and the rest.

I try my best to remember that this series came out in 1977 and special effects were limited. Even still, the inclusion in this episode of the creature named Oscar was stretching the acceptability of special effects. It was a guy in a rubber suit and it was pretty obvious. I was able to look past this two-headed creature from a different world, but why did it have to sound like a horse whining every time it made a sound? That was a poor choice and something that could have been done better at the time.

The acting from the side characters of this series has never been great. It is continuing to be so with the natives of this island who just did not sound like they were doing anything but reading off a page. Again, I can understand the budget of hiring real actors for the minor background characters.

Mark’s heroic and honorable nature continues to be the highlight of the show. There were plenty of time Mark could use his super strength to fight or to respond with violence, but he does not do so. He responds with respect and with words and the fact that he does not have to do so, that he would be perfectly capable of surviving the situation by his strength alone, makes him all the more of a hero.

Even Muldoon, who is selfish and greedy, can’t help but to be a better person when he is around Mark. Once again though, the show sticks it to Muldoon as he has to pay the price because of his previous actions at the end of the show, even though he helped save everyone at the end. Poor Muldoon.